


Let's Slow Down

by onelastgingeronamission



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-05-08 17:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5506694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onelastgingeronamission/pseuds/onelastgingeronamission
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alisa Romanova has never had an easy life, however after her sister employs S.H.I.E.L.D. to rescue her from Red Room and she joins the Avengers, things begin to look on the brighter. Once two new agents join the intiative, things being getting complicated, especially a certain white haired speedster who has made it his mission to make nothing but trouble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_**Six Months Before the Battle of New York** _

****

I started drumming my fingers on the cafe table once again as I tried to block out the noise of the New York traffic that was mere feet away. Letting out a sigh, I poked at the now cold cup of coffee as I strained to look up and down 34th avenue. The noon sun shone down brightly and I wished that I had chosen a spot in the shade.

“You’re going to burn out here Romanov.” A joking voice said as I spun around in my seat to met a pair of sunglasses. 

“Thank you for your concern Barton.” I said, shooting up out of my chair and wrapping my arms around him. He grasped me tight and I let out a small involuntary squeal as I felt my feet leave the safety of the ground. “Let me down Birdie.” I gasped out as I earned myself one more squeeze before being placed back on the ground.

“Try not to kill my sister before I get the chance to see her.” A familiar voice said as Barton stepped aside and I met the gaze of very familiar eyes. 

“Natalia!” I nearly cried out as I launched myself into her arms. She clutched me tight as I buried my face into her neck, her hair tickling my nose and blinding my visions.

“Alisa. My sister, my dear.” Natasha muttered out in our native Russian. “You got out alright? You aren’t hurt are you?” She started rambling on, pushing out at an arm's length to get a good look at me.

“I’m fine, the S.H.I.E.L.D. team got me out fine, a few scrapes and bruises but nothing I haven’t had before.” I said, smiling happily as I look in the sight of my sister I hadn’t seen in years. She had gotten taller, her hair had darkened and she opted for keeping it short, probably best for her line of work. “So what exactly did you two have to sell to get me out? Your souls, my soul? Because they’re not worth much so you got a great deal.” I said, taking my seat once again, pushing out the two seats opposite of me with my long legs. Twirling a strand of my long red hair, I rested my elbows on the table and raised my eyebrows at the two of them. Taking the seats, Clint let out a small chuckle and raised his shoulder towards Natasha. 

“You didn’t tell her?” Clint pulled down his sunglasses to the tip of his nose and peering down at the red head, sulking in her chair. “Oh this ought to be fun.” He chuckled, pushing the sunglasses back up and leaning back in his chair. I instantly sat up straighter and placed my hand palms down on the table.

“Natalia Alianovna Romanova, what did you sell?” I asked, my voice coming out tight as her eyes met mine. 

“I promised Fury that would would join the Avengers, help us fight crime and intergalactic evil. It was the best deal that I could make to get you out alive without risking your safety. Besides you would’ve ended up joining anyways.” She attempted to add at the end, her eyes nervously running over me as I felt Clint’s gaze turn on me.

“You get me out of one hell hole just to throw me into another.” I sighed, leaning back into the chair and crossing my arms against my chest. 

“They’re not like Red Room, Alisa.” Natalia sternly said, taking the tone of the big sister as she sat up in her chair. “They are good people, they helped me get you out didn’t they? Sent in agents that could’ve been killed, all for an agent that they weren’t even guaranteed.”

“You’re right, I’m not guaranteed. I want to travel, freelance a little.” I said, reaching out and poking the cup of coffee that wasn’t getting any warmer. “Maybe I’ll go to Dubai.” I shrugged, unable to meet her eyes as I heard her scoff.

“How are you going to get to Dubai? You’re seventeen with no passport or money to your name.” Natalia said, with a smirk on her face as I leaned into the table.

“You and I both know I’d find a way.” We stared at each other for a while before Clint cleared his throat.

“Hate to interrupt all of this sisterly reunion love, but Alisa there is no way we’re letting you run off to Dubai, even if you don’t join the Avengers.” He started to say, taking off his sunglasses and putting them on the table. “If you do join, we’ll get to stay together, all of us.” He said, reaching out and taking my sisters hand in his. “You can clear your ledger just like Natasha and make up for some of the bad you did in Red Room.” His eyes locked onto mine as I felt my stubbornness melt away. Clint did always know I had a soft spot for him. His pursed lips cracked out of their tight hold into a signature smirk. “Besides, I know how much you missed me.” Natalia let out a small laugh, looking at me with uncertain eyes. Sighing, I nodded slightly. 

“That means I get to live in that giant eye sore in the middle of the city?” I asked as Clint let out a short laugh and Natalia grinned. 

“Yes with us and all the other Avengers. It’ll take a while to get settled but you will.” She added at the end as I smiled. 

“That’ll be fun, but that Captain America sure is something to look at.” I smirked at Natalia rolled her eyes and Clint let out a strangled laugh. The waiter came over and placed the check down, not before taking a long look at the two Avengers sitting across from me. “You two got tis right?” Earning two eye rolls, I smiled happily, swirling around my cold coffee. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Years my dear! I'm glad you all are here to experience another 365 days. Enjoy the chapter, next one will have Pietro, promise! Enjoy!

It had been eight months since I had officially joined the Avengers. Only two months had gone by since the Battle of New York, my offical unoffical first mission an an Avenger. I wasn’t as famous as Thor or Tony or even Clint for that matter, but I did earn my superhero name. The Red Avenger. Named that after either my red locks or Russian heritage, I wasn’t sure, all I know is one little slip by Tony during a CBS This morning interview and I was reborn. My relation to Natalia was unconfirmed but the rumors were deemed true by a majority of the public. So were the stories of me being the secret love child of Clint and Natalia, which is all types of wrong, and my love affair with the Star Spangled Man himself, which I didn’t exactly mind. Since the battle that destroyed parts of New York, the one that I still don’t quite understand, I had officially become an agent of the Avenger initiative. Before the time when I proved my worth by kicking alien add, I spent most of my time locked up in my room which had been on the opposite side of the tower from when most of the Avengers slept. Studying case files was of utmost importance according to Director Fury. Eventually, they trusted me with training, my value as Natalia's baby sister only stretching so far. Those long hours were usually spent changing my writing from fatally injuries to simply restraining. The sessions were typically with Natalia, Clint and some unwilling S.H.I.E.L.D. recruits. Later they traded out the easily bruised probees, for Captain America himself. Training with him was the most exciting. However, training and studying case file was all I was able to do. My social life wasn’t bright either as none of the Avengers seemed to trust me and my sister and her boyfriend weren't exactly social butterflies. The only one that talked to me was Rogers out of pity and guilt from beating up Natalia’s little sister. The night I had planned to leave, planned to hack Tony’s back account and take a plane to Dubai, word had gotten back to the tower that Clint had been compromised. After that, I became much more suspicious of my new team. As tensions grew, I was pushed more to the sidelines. When the battle finally started, I used it as a creative outlet for all the pent up aggression. On another positive note, saving the lives of both Captain and Thor helped boost my position among the superhero boy band. After the dust had settled, I was welcomed into the family as a new member with open arms. Despite the fact that they had spent most of the battle trying to keep from joining the fight in the first place. I still didn’t trust most of them, but they couldn’t be any worse than the family I had first fled, could they?

* * *

 

Slowly, I made my way down the staircase to the festive party going down belew. This was my first Stark party and I was fashionably late. Natalia’s eyes met mine and nodded as Clint followed her gaze and grinned widely at me. My heels clicked on the tile floor as I tugged on the deep blue halter top dress that Pepper had picked out for me a week before. 

“You look absolutely stunning my dear!” Stark exclaimed, throwing out his arms as I walked over the Avengers. 

“Thanks Tony.” I said with a roll of my eyes. “So what exactly is this party for?” My Russian accent slipping a ride along on a few choice syllables. 

“It’s the anniversary of the creation of falafel.” Tony said with a dignified smirk as Natalia looked downright done. 

“That’s bullshit.” Clint said, pointing his glass towards Tony as his other arm stayed securely around my sister’s shoulders. 

“That could be true.” He replied, turning to me with a warm smile. “Have fun, mingle. You’re one of us now kiddo.” Tony said, before walking off to talk to some diplomats or a Nobel prize winner. Bruce gave me a shy smile before following Tony. Thor began regalling an epic Asgardian adventure to Clint and Natasha who both look absolutely pleased. 

“You do look amazing.” A smooth voice with a twinge of a New York accent said. I turned around to see the bright blue eyes of Captain America, looking down at me. 

“Why thank you Captain.” I said, smiling up at him.

“Of course, Red.” He grinned as I made my way to the bar. 

“What's your poison?” I asked him, placing my hands on the counter. “Whiskey.” I ordered as the bartender nodded at me. I could feel Steve’s frown burning into my bare back.

“Alisa, I know you’re only two years away from drinking age and you’re a spy but…” He started on his traditional rant about respecting the law as I caught the eye of the bartender.

“Make it a double.”

* * *

 

The party eventually thinned out until it was just us along with Tony’s friend Roddy and Maria Hill, a high ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. We were all sitting around a table, figuring out that none of us were as worthy as the mighty Thor, when a screeching sound broke the light atmosphere. The sound of metal being dragged on the tile propelled me out of my seat and my hand went to the gun in the holster around my thigh. A disarray of metal dragged itself into the room, cords leaking oil as it made its way center stage. 

“Jarvis.” Tony called out, the echo of his voice his only response as he slowly rose up from his seat. The metal mass started talking but it fell on deaf ears as I slipped out my gun. My mind went automatically to fight strategies. The hunk of metal kept rambling until four of Iron Man’s suits broke the glass walls and started attacking us. I opened fire on the nearest one as it raised an arm to fire at me. Steve rushed in, snagging me by my waist and pulling me out of the line of fire. The blast hit the wall behind us and pieces of plaster rained down on us. I scrambled to my feet and started once again firing, hitting my target dead on, taking it down as it dropped out of the air. Steve ran off to help Clint and all the other bots were occupied. One by one they fell and I placed my gun back in it’s holster. Tony looked distraught and snippets of the conversation came flooding back to me. My eye narrowed as I turned to Natalia who was accessing the damage that was done to Clint.

“You said it would be different.” I spat out in Russian, before spinning on my heel and heading further into the tower. Glass crunching under my feet the only noise that echoed throughout the now silent room. 

* * *

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this turned out to be longer than expected...Enjoy!

Tugging on my hoodie, I slipped my feet into my boots and let out a deep breath. I opened the door gently and slipped out into the quiet hallway. Tossing my hood over my head, I silently made my way to the elevator, making sure to steer clear of the loud meeting that was taking place in the living room. I jabbed the button and stood as close to the doors so I could, when the doors opened, I nearly ran in. Stabbing the door close button, I let out a deep breath when they slowly shut. The ride was awkwardly silent, Jarvis’s familiar voice not coming out of nowhere, advising me to head back upstairs and join the party. The doors opened and I walked out, only looking up to nod at Jerry, the current doorman for the tower. Pushing open the glass doors, I stopped in the doorway, letting the cold air hit me and the sounds of mass traffic and chaos assaulted my ears. I heard a cough behind me, Jerry in his code that I was wasting the heat and should shut the door. Shutting the door, I turned left into the flow of traffic and let my feet carry me with no clear direction. The moonlight was barely discernible from the street lights and the headlights of traffic. Keeping my head down, I managed to not bump into anyone until I had walked a couple of blocks. I hit someone on the shoulder to which I lifted up my head and mumbled a pitiful apology. Sapphire blue eyes met mine as I suddenly realized I was in the presence of a fan.

“You’re the Red Avenger!” The tall stranger said in a thick Slovakian accent with a lopsided grin on his face. 

“Shit.” I muttered, standing up taller as he placed both of his hands on my shoulders. Taking in his platinum hair, strong jawline that was dotted with stubble and shirt that was slightly too tight on his broad chest, I took in a deep breath and plastered on a large fake smile. “Look I’m pretty sure you’re a nice guy and all.” I started, patting his chest lightly. “But no I will not sign an autograph, I will not take a selfie with a phone that’s being held on a ridiculously long stick and no I will not sign your ass so you can win a bet to get more alcohol that neither you or your kidneys need. Now if you don’t mind…” I ended, turning into the nearest store and letting out a relieved sigh when I realized it was Earl’s Dinner. “Thank God.” I murmured as I felt the warm air wash over me and I looked up to see a middle aged Greek man smiling widely at me.

“Alisa! My dear! Come in, sit, sit. I just put on fresh pot of coffee.” His accent heavily tinting his words as I sat down at the empty bar, pushing my hood off of my head. A smile slowly spread across my face as I played my hands across the sticky countertop and picked up a menu. “Are you finally going to order something this time?” He joked his eyes leaving him and looking up at a figure that had just walked up behind me. “What about your boyfriend here? Looks like he would be hungry?” My eyes snapped the the stranger that I had just ran into.

“Just the coffee Earl.” I said, straining a smile as the man took a seat next to me. Searching my hoodie for my wallet, I was cut off as Earl slid the coffee to me, the cut delicately placed on a white saucer.

“You know I don’t want your money.” He playfully warned me as I grasped the cup in both of my hands. A small actual smile fell on my lips as I nodded.

“Benefits of being an Avenger?” The man asked as my eyes curtly cut to him. I could feel Earl frown as I lifted the cup to my lips.

“This young women saved my life along with my daughters, all she would accept from me in return is a safe place and a fresh cup of coffee whenever she walked in.” He said, slowly walking back towards the counter, waving the brush he was using to scrape off the grill. “I won’t have you being rude to her in my establishment.” A small wave of security washed over me as Earl cast me a small smile before turning back to the task at hand. I swirled around in my chair, the cup securely in my hands to face the mystery man who seemed truly taken back. Raising an eyebrow, his head turned to meet my gaze.

“You heard the man. Now if you don’t go all crazed fan on me, I guess, maybe, I can let you stay. Your accent is pretty hot.” I smirked out as I earned myself a playful smile.

“If I can manage to restrain myself, it would be a pleasure to remain in your company.” He murmured out as I turned my head slightly to direct my words to Earl.

“Can I please get a cup of coffee for my friend Earl?” I said, my voice have a certain sweet edge to it. He nodded at me, while continuing to scrape off the grill, muttering to himself in Greek. Turning my head about around, I smiled at the man who was looking at me with a mix of emotions that was quickly disguised with what I assume to be a signature smirk of his. “Well you know my name and probably my entire life story, but I know nothing about you.” I started off, offering my hand to him. I sat up taller in my seat as he gazed down at my hand before accepting it. 

“Pietro Maximoff.” After shaking it, Pietro took it in his and pressed a slight kiss to my knuckles. 

“Aren’t you quite the charmer?” I muttered before adding in a louder tone, “Well I’m Alisa Romanoff, please do not call me the Red Avenger or I will have to kick your ass.” He murmured something in Slovakian that I couldn’t quite make out, my Slovakian was slightly rusty. 

“As much as I would enjoy having your hands on my person…” He started to flirt as Earl roughly placed a cup down on the counter in front of him, the coffee sloshing inside. “Thank you.” Pietro honestly said, surprising Earl as he only nodded before walking away. Putting the coffee down, I turned back to face towards the kitchen, the issue that I sped walked away from popping up in the back of my mind. I must’ve spaced out because I had the pleasure of Pietro leaning in front of me, waving his hand infront of my face. “Earth to Alisa.” He said, his Slovakian accent a warm wake up call. 

“Sorry about that, well kinda.” I said, a sad little smile as he expression softened, surprising me. 

“May I ask you something? Why is an Avenger like yourself in a run down coffee shop in the middle of the city instead of the giant eyesore in the sky?” I let out a giggle at the nickname he gave Stark tower. His lips cracked a smile as a warm feeling spread throughout my body.

“Well, I’m kinda sorta an Avenger and to put it honestly, I’m not exactly very welcome in the tower.” I shrugged, my shoulders hunched over as I slowly began to slide the cup around the counter. I stiffened as I felt his hand place itself on mine, every nerve in my body telling me to rip my hand away and storm out. Taking a deep breath, I accepted the welcome human contact, even if it was from a complete stranger. “My Russianness isn’t exactly a helpful addition to the group and they’ve only just recently began accepting me into their flock.” My ears picking up on the Russian edge in my voice now that I had mentioned it.

“I like it.” He added as an attempt to lighten the atmosphere as I let out a hollow laugh. 

“Well I like yours too.” I said, turning my head and meeting his soft eyes. He slowly started rubbing the top of my hand with his thumb.

“Isn’t your sister there? Shouldn’t that be your home then?” Pietro asked, seemingly honestly curious to my current situation that caused a red flag to pop up in my head. 

“Yes, she’s there, along with Clint and they are my family, but that place isn’t home. I don’t have a home not anymore and after what’s been happening, I’m not exactly in the mood to be accepting them.” I added at the end, knowing he would have no idea what I was talking about. Squeezing my hand, he spoke very softly.

“I don’t have much of a home myself, my sister is the only real sense of home I have as well.” The pure rawness of emotion hit him like a ton of bricks.

“I guess that’s one thing we have in common then.” I replied, my voice even as our eyes met. We sat like this for a moment or two, stuck in each other's gazes as I attempted to figure him out. 

“Why don’t you leave then? Run off somewhere, join the circus or some great adventure like that?” He teased as I let out a small smile.

“My sister, she promised my allegiance to S.H.I.E.L.D. when they broke me out of my past employers. I’ve tried to leave a couple of times but everytime I did something popped up, Clint almost died, Natalia got the flu, Stark threw a party.” I added at the end with a bitter laugh as I saw his lips slowly curl up. 

“Do you not like Stark?” Pietro asked, an a piss poor attempt to be nonchalant. 

“I can handle the man but that’s about as far as I get.” I said, lifting up the cup and swallowing the entire cup of the now lukewarm bitter liquid. “Everyone else is not too bad.” I threw in, trying not to make the Earth’s mightest heroes seem like a bratty bunch of children. Sighing, I pulled back my hand from under Pietro's and searched for my wallet once again in my hoodie. I pulled it out and snagged out a few ones, placing it underneath the napkin dispenser. Putting it back, I turned to see Pietro looking at me with a certain confused expression. “He never lets me pay and I feel guilty.” I said with an embarrassed shrug as he looked at me with the kindest eyes. Standing up, I cleared my throat as Pietro scrambled out of his chair to stand in front of me. I barely contained a giggle as he gave me a shy smile and ran a hand through his thick hair.

“Will I be seeing you soon?” He asked, his expression slightly narrowing as if he was trying to ignore something that I couldn’t hear.

“Same time, same place, tomorrow night?” I offered as a large smile broke out on his face. 

“I would love that.” He replied as we stood, staring at one another with what I could assume were goofy grins plastered on our face. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow Earl.” I called out, without breaking my gaze with the Slovakian. 

“Alright sweetie, you be safe getting back now.” He responded from the backroom. We stood in silence until I let the warm feeling I felt earlier bubble into my chest as I stood on my tip toes and pressed a chaste kiss to his stubbly cheek.

“Tomorrow then.” I said, tossing my hood back over my head and nearly running out of the restaurant, scaring the scare traffic that littered the New York sidewalk at 3 a.m. As I made my way back, I couldn’t get the image of those bright blue eyes out of my head. Strolling back into the tower and smiling widely at Jerry, I called the elevator, humming a little melody to myself. Walking into the car, I waved at the starstruck doorman before the doors slid shut. I walked out as the car stopped and released me at entrance to the living quarters. It was silent as I made my way down to my room, my footfalls light and nearly non-existent. Opening the door to my bedroom, I threw myself onto the bed after closing the door behind me. I looked down at the packed duffel bag I had forgotten to take with me on my nighttime run. As the blue eyes once again flashed in front of my train of thought, I shoved it under my bed and snuggled into my pillow.  _ I’ll run away another day _ I thought, falling into a deep sleep that I knew would be filled with a certain white haired Slovakian. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm back! Now that school has started back up, I, of course, now have the inspiration to start writing and updating again. So here it goes. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it only gets better from here. I promise. Thank you for sticking around.

Sharp knocking on my door snapped me out of my half sleeping state as I let out a long groan and rolled over.

  
“Someone better be dying.” I called out, peeling myself from my blankets and throwing my legs over. With a wince, I looked down to see my shoes still tightly secured to my feet as the door opened.

  
“I thought you might be. Actually I thought you wouldn't be here at all." The door opened to reveal my sister on the other side.

  
“Nope, still here.” I muttered, bending over and starting to undo the laces on my boots. Closing the door behind her, Natalia perched herself on the bed next to me as I kicked off my shoes.

  
“Late night run?” She jokes, her eyes teasing but her voice holding a sharp edge.

  
“I went to visit Earl.” I answered simply, kicking my shoes away from the edge of the bed and laying back down. Natalia raised an eyebrow at me and laid down next to me.

  
“Is that all?” She asked, a clear disbelieving edge to her voice as I nodded.

  
“Yep, got a cup of coffee, talked to him about his daughter and came back.” I said, keeping my eyes on an interesting spot on the ceiling as I felt her shuffle around next to me. Hooking her leg on something under the bed, she dragged out my packed emergency bag and flung it across the room. Slowly lifting my head to look at her, I shrugged as she looked at me with a blank expression.

  
“You want to leave. After everything we had to do to get you here, you want to go?” Natalia asked, as I sat up and pulled my knees up to my chest.

  
“From what you told me, you didn’t have to do much.” I muttered into my knees as her strong stare softened.

  
“I put trust in an organization that blackmailed me to join them in the first place because Barton wouldn’t kill me. I promised them your allegiance, something I didn’t have the right to bargain, in hopes that they wouldn’t kill my little sister or use her to extract information on Hydra that I knew she didn’t have.” I lifted my eyes to meet hers as she continued on, “After what happened last night, I know things aren’t going to be easy or simple, but when have they ever been?” She offered me a small smile as I couldn’t help but shrug my shoulders. “As long as we have each other, things will be okay.” Natalia added firmly as she grasped my hand in hers. “Okay?” She added with a squeeze to my hand as I let the corners of my lips turn up into a smile.

  
“Okay.” I replied as she nearly tackled me into a hug and I let out a small laugh, grasping her close to me. We laid like that for a few minutes. My sister holding me tight as I buried my face into her neck, my hands clutching her shoulders close to me. Eventually, she sighed and released me, rolling off of the bed and standing.

  
“Come on, Clint’s making, well he’s attempting, to make pancakes.” Natalia said, offering me her hand. Groaning dramatically, I rolled off of the bed and took her hand. Smiling, she added. “Blueberry. Your favorite.” I smiled wider as I let go of her hand and walked to the door. Opening it and taking in the smell of something burning, I turned to see her kick my bag into the open closet. “You won’t be needing that anymore.” She said firmly, before walking out the door with her head held high. Rolling my eyes, I sighed and closed the door behind me as I followed her out. 

* * *

 

 

After a late breakfast of burnt and undercooked blueberry pancakes, a Barton specialty apparently, Natalita and Barton went to visit Tony in his lab. Refusing to tag along and not wanting to run into any other of the Avengers, I snuck my way down to the lesser used training rooms. I sighed happily as the motion activated lights slowly came on and revealed the room was empty. Grabbing a roll of gauze, I wrapped up my hands as I made my way over to a punching bag, rolling my shoulders and shaking out my arms. Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath, held it and let it out, letting my eyes open as I released the breath. I checked my stance, left leg forward, right leg back for support and raised my arms. Slamming my fist into the bag, the familiar feeling of resistance spreading through my arm as I grinned. I kept up the pace, right, right, left, leg, leg, repeat. Sweat began trickling down my face when I heard the sliding doors open. I growled underneath my breath as I punched the bag harder, footsteps increasing in volume as the intruder got closer to me.

  
“I came to this room for a reason.” I said, with a sharp edge to my voice, my eyes remained locked on my target.

  
“I know. That’s why this is the first place I thought to look for you.” A strong voice said as Captain America held the bag in place, my fist hitting the stationary target with a thump. Picking sweat drenched hair off of my forehead, I met his gaze and took a step back. His concerned blue eyes locked onto me and I crossed my arms against my chest.

  
“Can I help you, Captain?” I asked, unraveling the bandages from my hands as he let go of the bag.

  
“I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Steve said, walking out from behind the bag and letting it swing as he released it. I scoffed at his intentions and dropped the wrappings to the floor.

  
“How do you define okay?” I asked him as his expression softened before he wrapped his large arms around me and held me against his chest. I let out a small grunt and stood stiff in his embrace as he squeezed me close. The Captain loved to give hugs.They seemed to be his go to thing whenever someone was upset, especially when they didn't want to talk about it. Slowly I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head against his chest as I felt him place his forehead on the top of my head.   
“It'll be alright. This whole Ultron thing will be fine. You'll be fine. You and your sister and Clint. I won't let anything happen to you.” Steve said, his voice growing firmer with each sentence and his arms tightening around me. Taking in a deep breath, relaxing under the scent of him, lavender, musk and aftershave, I squeezed him tighter. He chuckled, the rumbling in his chest shaking me slightly as I felt him press a kiss to the top of my head. “How about we get out of here for a little bit? Visit Earl?” Steve offered as I nodded against his chest and his arms relaxed. Pulling away, I smiled at him and took a deep breath. He looked at me with a soft smile.

  
“That sounds fantastic. Let me change first? I smell worse than you when you come back from your morning runs.” I teased as I started walking back slowly. Giving me a sly grin, he began walking towards me.   
“You better watch it Romanoff.” He said before I let out a squeak and began to run out of the room. Steve's footsteps and loud laughter echoing in the empty room behind us.

 


End file.
